


Autism $peaks

by fourshoesfrank



Series: autistic marvel [5]
Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Autistic Frank Castle, Gen, Post-Season/Series 01, TW Ableism, can be read as kastle but nothing romantic happens, dont light it up blue, jon bernthal is 41 so frank born in 1976 right, preumpively posting this so im not rushed in april, red instead, remember kids: fuck autism speaks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-18 21:30:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16127126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourshoesfrank/pseuds/fourshoesfrank
Summary: Karen's been assigned to write a piece on autism awareness for the month of April. She goes to Frank for help.





	Autism $peaks

 

" _That's_ my assignment? Seriously? Autism awareness?" 

Karen couldn't believe that Ellison expected her to cater to the anti-vaccine warrior mommy crowd. Sure, she was allistic (that was the word for it, right?) but she wasnt going to shit on an entire neurotype to get paid.

Ellison was talking again. Karen focused on listening to him explain her assignment.

"...April, which is autism awareness month. Also, almost every other paper will publish a story like this. Just interview one or two doctors, throw in some statistics for good measure, and you're golden. Anyone who gets mad will forget about it in a week."

She tucked her hair behind her right ear and sighed. "Fine. I've already got someone in mind."

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Call ‘em up, then."

"Okay."

Her boss exited her office and Karen reached for her phone to dial Frank's number. She was pretty sure he was autistic. Matt had mentioned something about how 'there seems to be a lot of neurodivergent vigilantes running around these days' when Frank had first entered the scene. Matt had ADHD _and_ autism, so wouldn't he be able to recognize one of his own? 

The line rang twice before Frank picked up. She could hear machinery and shouting in the background, so he was probably at work. It was good that he had a legal job. She almost felt guilty for pulling him away from it. 

"Yeah?"

"Pete, meet me by the waterfront. It's for work."

"Tonight?"

She glanced at the calendar hanging behind her desk. "Yeah, I'm free tonight. Thanks."

"Anytime." He hung up.

Karen smiled fondly to herself. He probably meant that literally. She could call at the ass crack of dawn and he'd pick up. Hell, the man could probably answer her calls in his sleep.

She sat down at her computer and googled some of the statistics that Ellison loved to splatter every article with.

 

-

 

"So, what's this about?"

Karen smiled. That was Frank, getting down to business as usual. She hadn't realized how much she missed talking to him. 

"I'd like to interview you for the Bulletin, Pete." 

Frank shrugged, but he hadn’t said no. "What’s Pete Castiglione got that Karen Page wants to write about?"

"Ellison wants me to do a piece on autism awareness, since it's April. You're autistic, right?" Oh god, if he wasn't this was going to be a very awkward interview. Karen hoped she was right.

"Yeah. My impeccable social skills give it away?" Frank joked, cracking a smile. 

"Something like that. I've got a list of questions, so, whenever you're ready..."

"Fire away, yeah?" Eager to please, wasn't that an autistic trait? Karen flipped open her notepad to the first question.

"When were you diagnosed with autism?" It wasn't until the words came out of her mouth that Karen realized she knew next to nothing about Frank's life before he became the Punisher, not counting the dead family and the Marines parts. Maybe this interview could be an opportunity to get to know him better.

"I was about nine or ten. My cousin noticed that I kept rocking back and forth during Thanksgiving. She told my parents to make me stop because I was actin' all retarded. Her words, not mine. My mom brought it up at the doctor's office a week later."

"And the doctor gave you a diagnosis?"

"Yeah. Cost a hell of a lot, too."

Nobody would care if she asked anything about money, so Karen barreled on. "How did your family react?"

Frank chuckled, but there was no humor in it. It seemed like this was going to be the kind of sob story the readers ate up nowadays. 

"Y'know, it's the 80s, you get the news that your kid's got a mental illness, how're you gonna react? I was the black sheep of all my cousins, they wouldn't give me the time of day unless an adult was keepin' an eye on us."

"I'm– I'm sorry to hear that, Frank. That must've felt awful." Karen flipped the page when she finished scribbling down his story. "You called autism a mental illness, is that your personal view or was that the language of the time?"

"Language of the time. 'S just how I am, so no. I don't think autism is a mental illness." 

"How does being autistic affect the way you live your life?"

Karen could almost answer this one for him. To someone who knew what they were looking for, Frank might as well have been wearing a flashing neon sign around his neck that said 'warning: meltdowns, PTSD, emotional constipation, maybe a light dose of psychopathic tendencies.’ 

He shrugged. "Y'know, I just try to avoid parties and shit. Works pretty well."

Karen was out of questions. This was a filler article, after all, so it didn't need to be long. The only thing she'd needed was an expert, someone who was actually autistic. She could see that Frank was uncomfortable being interviewed, but at least he had agreed to do it. 

"Well, I think I've got everything I need. Thank you, Pete," Karen said as she tucked her scribble-filled notepad into her purse, nestling it alongside her gun and the burner phone Frank had given her a long time ago. 

Frank stood up. "Anytime, ma'am."

**Author's Note:**

> feed my back


End file.
